1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to microbiology, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for the culturing and examination of fungi.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known in the art, the culturing and examination of fungi is a procedure which must be accomplished with sterilized equipment and under controlled conditions to prevent contamination of the cultured fungi as such contamination can produce unsuccessful and/or misleading results, and to prevent the cultured fungi from in turn, contaminating laboratory equipment and personnel.
The most commonly used prior art method and apparatus comprises a round petrie dish which is filled with water to a depth which partially submerges a spaced pair of horizontally disposed supports such as toothpicks. A standard microscope slide is placed atop the toothpicks and a suitable culture nutrient medium such as agar is applied to the upper surface of the slide. The culture medium is then inoculated with the fungi and a standard cover slip is placed atop the inoculated medium. The petrie dish is then covered with a standard petrie dish lid, and after a suitable incubation period, the petrie dish lid is removed and the cover slip, cultured fungi, agar, and microscope slide are then lifted as a unit from the petrie dish and placed upon the stage of a microscope for examination purposes. If desired, a permanent record of the cultured fungi may be made by the well known staining method.
The above described prior art apparatus and method has several drawbacks and shortcomings. In the first place, the relatively complex setup procedure and equipment handling is not conducive to the prevention of contamination of the cultured fungi. Secondly, the precarious positioning of the microscope slide, inoculated cultured medium, and cover slip on the toothpicks requires that extreme care be exercised to prevent jarring or otherwise upsetting the apparatus during the incubation period as the water in the petrie dish must not be allowed to contact the inoculated culture medium. Further, the lifting as a unit, of the slide, medium, cultured fungi, and cover slip for placement on the stage of a microscope can easily result in the cultured fungi contaminating the lab equipment and personnel.
In addition to the above described shortcomings, the prior art method and apparatus has other drawbacks in that excessive lab time must be expended in sterilization and setting up of the equipment, handling of the round petrie dish is awkward, the quantity of the culture medium is inconsistent, and the equipment must be monitored to insure that the water in the petrie dish is not allowed to evaporate.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved method and apparatus for culturing and examining fungi which overcomes some of the drawbacks and shortcomings of the prior art.